F-14 Aggressor in splinter camo

chameleon 2009 · Oct 7, 2012

mossiepilot · Oct 7, 2012

Thats a cracking Tomcat Mike, never seen one like that before.

Whats the story behind the scheme mate, I'm no expert but it looks sort of Russian.

Tony.

chameleon 2009 · Oct 7, 2012

Hi Tony

Here is the information I worked from,

Background

The Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC), based at NAS Fallon, has long been a source for uniquely camouflaged aircraft, dating all the way back to its roots when it was known as the Naval Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), "Top Gun", based at NAS Miramar. With Tomcats entering service in the training role as aggressors in the 1990s, it was only natural that they should get some unique camouflages applied to them. This Tomcat is one such example, sporting a blue splinter camouflage intended to represent the blue camouflages of Eastern Block Flankers. The camouflage scheme comes complete with a large white radome, just as found on the Flanker.

Research sources for this posting include photographs taken in May 1999, April and September 2000 and some "official" NSAWC camouflage diagrams of the F-14 blue splinter pattern. These sources, when compared, reveal that the camouflage and markings of this particular aircraft have changed over time. The changes are mostly due to the replacement of flight control surfaces, which seems to be a standard operating procedure for the Tomcat. There were three Tomcat "hulks" parked around NAS Fallon during my September visit. All were missing major flight control components from their airframes.

The "official" NSAWC camouflage diagrams provide the Federal Standard (F.S.) numbers of the colors in the camouflage. These diagrams agree to the way the aircraft looked in May 1999. Pictures from April of 2000 showed the left horizontal tail had been replaced and repainted in different camouflage patterns. Similarly, the inboard auxiliary flaps had sections replaced that retained their Medium Gray (F.S.35237) camouflage color. Later pictures from September of 2000 showed that the right vertical tail had also been replaced and repainted in different camouflage patterns. The camouflage diagrams in this posting include all the variations.
In May 1999 and April 2000, most all markings seemed to be in dark gray paint, either F.S.36081 or F.S.36118. The exception to this rule is the nose number (20). The nose number seems to have always been painted in black, but this is open to interpretation.
In May 1999, "NSAWC" was at the top of the tails in dark gray. In April 2000, there was no "NSAWC" writing at the top of the tail. By September 2000, the "NSAWC" lettering was back, but in black paint.
In September 2000, the lightning bolt on the right tail was also changed to black paint. This is most likely a side product of the repainting of the right tail after it was replaced. The left lightning bolt, however, appears to still be dark gray.
In May 1999, the gun cover door was painted D.Ghost Gray. The door was the same color as the surrounding fuselage in April and September 2000.
Throughout the various time periods, other minor airframe differences also occurred. Notable with these are the low-intensity formation lights (tape lights). These lights seem to get replaced regularly, not always with the same style of light as what was originally there. Sometimes the color of the fixture does not match the surrounding camouflage color. Sometimes the lights are segmented. Other times the lights are not segmented. Several of the pictures in the following sections highlight what I am writing about here.
Pictures in books show at least two other blue splinter camouflaged Tomcats from NSAWC, nose numbers 10 and 30. Both are similar to this aircraft (#20), but they differ somewhat in both camouflage color choices and markings styles. Most notable with these two other aircraft is that both use "positive / negative" style markings rather than all in gray or black as evident on #20.

Aircraft History

This Blue Splintered NSAWC F-14A Tomcat is a block 130 aircraft (Bureau Number 161869). It was originally delivered to the US Navy in January 1985. During its early service life, it flew with the following units.

VF-11 Red Rippers
VF-24 Fighting Renegades
VF-124 Gunfighters
VF-213 Black Lions

Vajled · Oct 7, 2012

I like it

Roman

papa 695 · Oct 7, 2012

Hi Mike that is just outstanding

mossiepilot · Oct 7, 2012

Thanks for the background info Mike.

Tony.

mobear · Oct 8, 2012

Mike this is truly stunning to me,and would you mind if i used that paint job when i get my tomcat(to me the best looking fighter bomber in the world)?.i always looked at this plane in plain colours and this has peeked my interest totally,5* big stars from me

mobear

yak face · Oct 8, 2012

Lovely job mike , it looks great in the aggressor scheme. Its supposed to be similar to the scheme used on early su27 flankers , so does this make this a 'flomcat' or a 'tanker' LOL ? Either way its a fantastic looking build , cheers tony

chameleon 2009 · Oct 8, 2012

Hi Mobear

The tom cat is my all time favorite fighter, I will makes some more in the traditional colour scheme, but feel free to use the same paint job, and let me know if you need any help when you start, the masking is the biggest job.

Mike

HAWKERHUNTER · Oct 9, 2012

great work mike.

homechild · Oct 9, 2012

Very nice! I was thinking of doing that to the Tomcat I have in my stash but I've recently found out that a friend worked on Tomcats in the US Navy so I may pester him for some photo's.

Yours looks fantastic though (better than mine would've turned out).

flyjoe180 · Oct 10, 2012

Wow, fantastic job on this, it looks great! The aggressor scheme brings the lines of the Tomcat to life.

F-14 Aggressor in splinter camo

chameleon 2009

Mike Tipping Models

mossiepilot

A learner learning

chameleon 2009

Mike Tipping Models

Vajled

Guest

papa 695

Moderator

mossiepilot

A learner learning

mobear

Guest

yak face

Wossupwidee?

chameleon 2009

Mike Tipping Models

HAWKERHUNTER

homechild

flyjoe180

Joe